Project Sierra-117
by Xenongaf
Summary: The portal on the Ark collapses on the Dawn, shearing part of the ship off and sending the Chief into an unknown location. Meanwhile the Freelancers are having trouble dealing with insurrectionists and they need someone who was trained to hunt down the innies.
1. Prologue

The Forward Unto Dawn shot away from the exploding installation causing the Master Chief to get almost knocked out of the ship.

"Chief!" Cortana shouted with concern. Chief quickly smashed his fist into the deck, stopping him temporarily, as if on queue, a Warthog tumbled out of the hangar almost crushing him. Using the grooves inside the hangar, he pulled himself up to the holo-projector where Cortana was. When he reached the pedestal, he glanced back at the Ark, which was engulfed in fire.

He then brought his attention back to Cortana and held onto the pedestal firmly. A familiar blue outline of a slipspace portal surrounded the vessel as it was pulled into the source of gravity. Suddenly, an explosion was heard back at the Ark. Chief Turned his head at the sound. _That's not possible, sound can't travel in space, _he pondered.

His thoughts were interrupted by a sudden shaking of the ship, tremendous vibrations shook the ship. A screech of metal sounded down the walkways and halls. It lasted for several seconds before it stopped abruptly. He realised they weren't accelerating anymore and felt the feeling of weightlessness take over his body.

"Chief, I have bad news", Cortana spoke sadly, "We won't be going back". Chief turned his head to her holographic figure and looked at her questioningly.

"When the Ark was destroyed, it sent a massive shockwave out to a one light year radius, when the Dawn opened a slipspace portal, the shockwave shoved the ship off course and collapsed the portal", She explained clearly. "Since we are stranded what should we do?" she asked. Chief didn't answer, instead he pulled Cortana's data chip out of the holo-table and held on to it as he floated down the hall.

Chief floated for a couple of minutes before he rounded a corner to find his destination, the cryo bay. Taking Cortana's data chip, he place it into the pedestal in the centre of the room. Her avatar popped up as she watched the Spartan place himself into a cryo tube.

"Wake me when you need me", was his final words before he froze.


	2. Chapter I

The Mother of intervention slipped through space as if it were knife and soft butter. Inside the ship, numerous personnel buzzed around the ship, doing their jobs, from training in the arena to navigating and plotting courses for the ship to go.

Two people however were just sitting around the mess hall just chatting to themselves.

"So when are you getting your AI North", York spoke cheerfully, he had a habit of being laid back on board the ship.

"Probably next month", North replied just as cheerfully, "they say it takes days until they can create another AI fragment from the Alpha".

"That doesn't seem too bad, I heard Carolina gave up Sigma to Maine".

"What!", North exclaimed in disbelief, "why would she give up her AI, it's like the best enhancement you can get".

"Hush", York hissed, "the reason she gave Sigma away was so he could talk, he lost his voice when a insurrectionist cut his throat".

"That's like saying Carolina got her ass whooped by a sim trooper", North said with an eyebrow raised.

"Exactly, that's why th…", York was interrupted by an alarm.

'Attention, all freelancers report to the arena immediately'

"Damn, I think I'm going to the arena again", York guessed with a sarcastic tone. York got out of his seat and walked to the door, North after a few seconds shook his head and headed towards the same door.

* * *

On the bridge the navigators were busy checking all sensors. One of them spotted something on his scanner. Quickly he put his hand to the microphone that rested on his ear.

'_Director_' he started into the microphone, '_I have found_ _something on the scanners_'.

'_It had better be worth my time navigator_', the Director replied in a irritated tone. The navigator gulped before replying.

'_Well it appears to be a slipspace anomaly coming from the bow of the Invention' _he waited for the reply of the Director.

'_I'm sending orders to investigate, check your scanners again_'.

The navigator did as the Director told him.

* * *

'_Attention Bridge crew, this is Director Church, there is apparently an anomaly on the Bow of the Invention, your instructions are to plot an intercept course with the anomaly and check what it is, I want every scanning it, Director out_'. As he ended the intercom, the entire room became a commotion.

A radio officer then started to pick up something on the radio.

'_…dash three dash Sierra zero one one seven_' a female voice sounded. The operator kept listening. '_Mayday, mayday, maday. This is UNSC FFG-201 Forward Unto Dawn, requesting immediate evac. Survivors aboard. Prioritization code: Victor Zero Five dash Three dash Sierra Zero One One Seven'. _Immediately the officer contacted the Director.

'_Director we have a situation'_, she spoke slowly into the microphone of the headset.

'_What do you mean situation'_, he replied, his eyes narrowed at the possibilities.

_ 'We have an emergency call from what appears to be a Frigate known as the Forward Unto Dawn, it's got a high priority, Victor Zero Five'_, she could almost hear the Director thinking inside his head.

'_Have we got visual yet officer'_, he replied.

'_Negative, wait, we are coming into view sending the live feed',_ when she saw the frigate, she could only gasp, the rest of the bridge crew stopped what they were doing and gazed in shock at the view.

The supposed Frigate was in a mess, the entire bow of the ship disappeared, almost as if it was cleanly cut with a knife of some sort. Dim lights flickered in the windows of the ship and bits of wreckage was pouring out.

"Holy Shit", one of the bridge crew spoke in awe, trembling. Something that sheared an entire part of the ship off spoke volumes of what an unknown weapon could do.

In another room, the Director and the Councillor stared with their mouths open in shock. Nothing they had seen could ever compare to the sight of the damaged Frigate. Quickly shaking his head, he opened the ship wide com unit.

'_Attention to all freelancers and pilots, cease all activities and report to the debriefing room immediately'_. Agent York was just about to finish Colorado off with a roundhouse kick when the intercom sounded the announcement.

"Damn, almost finished you off Col", York remarked, he then leaned forward to help Colorado to his feet.

"How does it feel to be nearly beaten by me", York commented cheerfully.

"Hey, you only won since you had your AI", Colorado claimed with feigned irritation. The two walked side by side to the debriefing room. Surprisingly it was packed full of freelancer agents.

"Whoa", Colorado said surprised, "hasn't ever been this packed before". York nodded in agreement as they attempted to weave through the crowd of Freelancers and pilots. The two noticed Agent North waving them over from the far side of the room, quickly they pushed through the crowd before meeting up North.

However before they got the chance to even say a word, the Director walked in the room, along with the Councillor. The whole room suddenly stopped their conversations. Not even a squeak was heard.

"Thank you Freelancers and pilots, it has come to my concern that a UNSC Frigate was found only an hour ago on the scanners and a visual was made in less than eight minutes ago, what we found was disconcerting ", the Director paused for a moment before continuing, "the entire front of the ship was cut off from the back half, exposing numerous hallways and rooms from the middle of the ship".

Immediately the room exploded into murmurings, with the occasional shout of disbelief.

"Silence!", the Director roared in irritation immediately cutting off the chatter in the room. "We need ten volunteers on this mission, with the exception of the pilots, raise your hands if you want to go".

Three hands shot out of the crowd showing agents Kansas, Minnesota and Maryland. A few seconds after that four hands shot up, with Colorado, York, North and Ohio attached to them. Minutes passed and no one else put their hands up.

"Anyone else?", the Director questioned, "remember, this is a ten Freelancer mission to explore the interior of the ship".

One hand slowly rose from the crowd, the Director smiled. It was Agent Washington, easily one of the best agents in the Freelancer program.

"Anyone else, this is the final call", the Director stated, "Freelancers, you are dismissed, volunteers stay behind to get your designations". He walked out of the room with the councillor in tow.

"Finally a mission where we can explore something without getting shot at", Colorado said, "plus we get to team up with Kansas, Minnesota and Maryland".

"Oh so you only put your hand up for the girls", York questioned with North raising an eyebrow. Colorado started to redden, causing North and York to burst out laughing and Ohio to roll his eyes.

"You guys for real?", Ohio asked. The three girls on the other hand.

"Washington and North are coming!", Kansas squealed excitedly, Minnesota was jumping up and down, whilst Maryland looked unimpressed.

'_What's so good about them' _she signalled in sign language. Kansas and Minnesota gave almost outraged looks at her which she shrugged. A few minutes later, the group walked to the hangar. A pilot and co-pilot were sitting on a ramp talking about something.

"And then I saw a huge ship, probably the size of a cruiser entering the atmosphere", the co-pilot explained. The pilot shook his head at his co-pilot and immediately went up to greet the approaching freelancers.

"I was told to take you guys to the wrecked Frigate, am I right?", the pilot asked nonchalantly. Washington nodded, the pilot motioned the group to follow him into the pelican, within minutes the pelican took off into the blackness of space.


	3. Chapter II

"Holy cow!", exclaimed Colorado as they drew closer to the wrecked frigate. His eyes bulged out of its sockets as they took in the state of the ship.

"So the Director wasn't kidding", North commented, "it really was cut in half by some sort of weapon or accident".

'_Attention, we are approaching the wreckage in t-minus thirty seconds, better check your weapons and equipment before you go in'_

The team hastily started checking the weapons and equipment they brought with them. It was something unusual, considering the equipment and weapons were always checked and ready to use. But you never question orders in case they save your life.

Washington closed his eyes as he waited for the clunk of the pelican docking on the port of the wrecked frigate. The doors made a hissing noise as they pressurised the pelican, North and York looked at each other and nodding their heads. Kansas, Minnesota and Maryland did nothing as they waited too.

The noise stopped and the doors whooshed open. The team split up into fours, with Ohio joining the females. As they spread apart walking into the dark halls, Maryland paused at a door numbers '07'. Quietly sliding it open, she found it was a crew cabin.

As she entered it, the lights flickered on and a screen turned on. Quickly she accessed the computer looking through the logs for any data concerning this ships demise. Finding what she was looking for, she activated the recording.

"June 27 2552", a male voice sounded nervously, "It was just two days ago when they agreed going through that portal, and with the separatists?, I mean come on, those split jaw aliens deserve to pay the pric…".

Maryland just stared at the computer in mild confusion. The occupants of this ship had met aliens, which was strange since it would have most likely been revealed to the public. She looked at the date again and shook her head.

"Stupid data corruption", she whispered disdainfully. Tapping the play button, the recording resumed.

"-ce, for killing us in three decades of war, it's like having a bully suddenly being nice to you, not really easy to forgive them for everything they've done to you. So anyways, it has been real hectic with everyone buzzing around the Elites Assault carrier. Did I mention it was huge, like freaking five kilometres. I mean it could fit literally ten frigates in it, anyways, I've got to wrap this up, so goodbye", the recording ended with a bleep.

Maryland now even more confused stood still for five minutes on the spot staring into the distance. Her thoughts were interrupted by Kansas who had just come into the room.

"Maryland, snap out of it!", she screeched into the coms, sending Maryland back to reality. Kansas looked at the computer and walked over to it. Taking out a memory drive, she inserted it into a port and started downloading the data taking five seconds before pulling it out and motioning Maryland to follow her out.

"Wonder how the guys are doing", Kansas said into the microphone.

* * *

Meanwhile with the guys.

"Oh come on stop doing that", Colorado complained, receiving stares from the other three.

"What do you mean Col?", North questioned, "we're not doing anything". Colorado looked nervously from side to side, making the other three suspicious of their surroundings.

"It's my HUD, something's messing with all my helmet functions", he replied timidly, "and there's this scary little video playing in the bottom right hand corner".

This provoked an action from Washington, reaching for the button on his helmet, he activated HUD sharing function. Instantly all his systems went fuzzy except for a small video in the bottom right hand corner. Instinctively he averted his eyes away from the video.

Disconnecting his HUD from Colorado he stood up taller than usual.

"Be wary, a virus is on the loose, reboot all your helmet functions", Washington informed them. They did as he said.

As they walked down the down the hall way, an elevator shaft opened and closed in a continuous pattern. York walked over to it and kicked the door. It didn't budge. Grabbing an explosive gel canister from his armour, he began laying the substance on the hinges of the doors.

Finishing it off he stepped back two metres before firing a bullet from his magnum. The doors blew off their hinges and clattered to the ground resulting in a loud sound bouncing back and forth through the hall.

"Well so much for a quiet entrance", North commented with an eyebrow raised.

North, York, Washington and Colorado stepped on the elevator, before it automatically started to climb the shaft, it was only a couple of seconds before they heard a soft 'ding' and the doors opened to reveal the bridge.

The room had most of it's lights functional, and it was relatively intact. Unfortunately no bodies littered the area and surprisingly it looked as if the place was cleaned and tidied recently.

"Looks like someone was expecting guests", York joked as he split from the group and accessed the bridge controls.

"Hey Delta, mind giving me a hand in getting the data".

"Yes Agent New York", Delta replied, within minutes all the data was downloaded onto the chip sized hard drive. York took a peek at the data.

"All this data seems to correlate with an event known as the Human-Covenant war, it's weird because it says it's 2553 on their databanks, but we're in 2525", York said uneasily.

"Let me see that", North said grabbing a data pad from a nearby table and motioning for Delta to send the data. His eyes widened under his helmet.

"Washington your going to want see this", North said in the same uneasy tone York had. Washington held out his hand and pushed the pad away.

"Save it for the Director", he said in a commanding voice, "right now we need to find if there is any survivors on board". North nodded silently.

"Any idea's where we can find a survivor?", York asked warily.

Colorado, who was oblivious to the conversation going between them, had accessed a terminal and was going through the ship when he found the cryo bay with a weak life signature.

"Got it!", he exclaimed, gaining the attention of the others quickly.

"Got it?", York questioned as the group walked towards Colorado stopping only a metre from him.

"You know, the cryo bay", Colorado said excitedly, "where you freeze yourself in slipspace".

Suddenly, Washington's, York's and North's minds clicked together as they figured out where to find the survivor.

"Col, is there a life sign in the cryo bay?", North asked urgently.

"Yea, but it's really faint", Colorado said with a frown, "probably in one of the cryo tubes".

"Let's go then", Washington ordered, immediately all of them jogged to the cryo bay making loud clanks on the floor.

* * *

"Can't you get this door open Ohio", Minnesota complained annoyingly causing Ohio to grumble and kick the door hard, making a dent in the steel.

"Shut up will you", he whispered harshly, causing her to stiffen. They were inside a corridor trying to access the armoury. Minnesota looked around waiting for Kansas and Maryland to show up.

Suddenly, a sound of something heavy was clattering heavily on the metal floor, causing her to bring the magnum and aim it in the direction of the noise. A few seconds later, Washington, York, North and Colorado came sprinting down the hall.

After realizing they were the source of noise, she motioned them over to herself. They acknowledged her and slowed down.

"What's up Minnesota", North said urgently, he was desperate to get somewhere in a rush. She blushed for a second then quickly cleared her face.

"We need some help opening the door to the armoury, but it's locked and we can't get it open", she explained. North motioned for York to come over to him.

"Hey York", North asked, "mind if you quickly hack the door open". York nodded before kneeling at the pad, before long, the door opened.

The sight of an assortment of weapons surprised them.

"Woah", York commented, "that is a whole bunch of badass weapons". The six of them walked into the room to gaze at the sight.

On the far left wall sported ten large weapons labelled 'M6 Galilean Nonlinear Rifle' on another wall, five oddly shaped weapons labelled 'SAW' and ten smaller magnums covered the wall. Other weapons include a new and improved assault rifle and sniper rifle.

"We are definitely taking this back to the Director", North almost squealed whilst admiring the sniper rifles, "but we need to get to the cryo bay and find that survivor".

All of them nodded before rushing out of the armoury and running to the bay.

The coldness inside the cryo bay made them shiver, despite them wearing armour with a temperature regulator. The darkness didn't help them either. The six agents turned on their helmet flashlights showings a medium sized room filled with empty pods. Except for one.

"Wonder who's in there", Colorado commented as they drew closer. Wiping a hand over the glass did not work as the sheets of ice cover the interior.

"What should we do with the pod", Ohio asked. The freelancers began working their minds.

"We should open it and see who's inside", Colorado suggested.

"What if he didn't have any breathing gear, he would suffocate whilst waking up", York scolded Colorado.

"Why not move the entire pod with a power source and open it inside the Mother of Invention. Besides this cryo bay is close to the surface of the frigate", Minnesota offered.

"That was pretty genius Minnesota", North commented, causing her to blush under her helmet.

* * *

A few minutes later all eight Freelancers had assembled at the cryo bay, busy cutting the roof with the exception of Ohio and Washington, who were reconnecting the pod to a new power source. With a loud screech, the ceil came off and revealed the black inky space.

Finishing connecting the power source, Washington noticed a data chip in the middle terminal. Yanking it out, he placed it inside his right thigh armour compartment.

_'Pelican 045, change of plans in extraction, pick us at these coordinates, Washington out'_

In only a few short seconds did the pelican appear for extraction. Gently attaching the pod with it's power source on first, the team eventually filed in with Maryland going in last. The pelican then flew towards the Mother of Invention.


	4. Chapter III

The Pelican landed with a thump as it made contact with the metal hangar floor. Immediately the team started to carefully unload the cryo pod onto the floor. They hadn't even touched the ground when the directors voice interrupted them.

_'Leave the Pod in the pelican, the offloading crew will be arriving shortly, in the meantime I want the team in my office for debriefing'_

The group complied and started to the Directors office, before they could even do that ;however, Colorado raced ahead of the group, slipping out of view, it was only after a few minutes of walking did they faintly hear the sound of something being sprayed against the wall inside the bathroom. Several seconds later and Colorado walked out feeling better.

They passed a couple of soldiers and engineers on the way to the Directors office, many just ignored them and continued on their work. Others that were new just stared at them with some awe and jealousy. Passing the mess hall, they caught a couple of freelancers snuggling together in the corner of the room before they continued on.

Arriving at the front of the Directors office, all of them took a deep breath before entering the room. It was quiet with only soft murmurings from the Councillor to the Director, none of them leaned in to hear what the two were saying. Finally the Director turned and faced them, they immediately stood at attention.

"I assume everything is well agents?" the Director asked, all of them nodded their heads. He crossed his arms behind his backside and crinkled his face into a frown.

"Then you must know about the virus Agent Colorado's helmet contracted", he questioned, only Washington, Colorado, York and North nodded their heads, the other four turned their heads and gave them a questioning stare.

"Sir", Washington started.

"No, I want to see what made agent Colorado talk to himself on the radio", the Director interrupted. Col looked down at the floor, red in the face and ashamed of himself, the other agents could not anything other than look at him pitifully.

The Director then swiftly strode over to his desk, he reached down and picked up a data pad and started rapidly tapping on the pad. Instantly, the room started to come to life, lights dimmed down being barely visible, trapdoors opened in the floor revealing rising seats, metal blinds covered the windows and a huge screen popped out from a nearby wall.

As the agents and the Councillor made their way to the seats, the Directors double tapped on the data pad, a video was brought up to the screen showing video footage of Colorado's HUD, the Director pressed play.

The video began when the airlock opened and they stepped into the dim corridors of the ship. The Director and the Councillor watched intently as they started moving through the halls and occasionally entering large rooms. Ten minutes into the video, the screen started getting fuzzy, Colorado's blue and red hand started tapping at the visor.

_'What the heck is happening'_ the video Colorado mused.

A few seconds later, a small video started playing in the bottom right hand corner of the screen. The Director double tapped on his data pad and the screen zoomed in on that particular spot.

A grotesque looking creature was staring back at the screen; three antenna looking appendages stuck out from a stump on the top of the torso, the right arm looked human and was holding an SMG, the other arm, however, was snapped in half creating a claw like appendage. A human head, was bent in an unnatural angle carrying a shocked face.

It began hobbling at a rapid pace towards the screen. As it was about to attack the camera, an armoured hand shot out from the screen and punched it in the face, creating an explosion of guts and skin. Every one looked away or covered their mouths in disgust.

The video switched, showing a organic looking interior, with purple metal occasionally sticking out.

_'oh come on stop doing that' Colorado's recorded voice said._

The Agents in the video were faintly talking about something. The Director then tapped the pad, pausing the video.

"I have a feeling that our answers lie within that cryo pod", the Director said suspiciously. The agents nodded their heads and started filing out.

"One more thing agents", the Director asked, "you will say not a word to anyone or any other soul about this, am I clear?"

"Yes Director", the agents chorused. They then disappeared after walking through the door.

The Director sighed, massaging his temples in a circular motion. The Councillor was visibly spooked by the video. A small ding was heard on his desk signifying someone wanted to speak with him. Walking over the desk, he pressed the button softly.

"What is it", the Director drawled, obviously tired from working and paperwork.

_'We got a situation on our hands sir'_ the intercom replied nervously. Instantly scrunching his face into a frown, the Director replied back.

"What do you mean 'we have a situation".

'_The cryo tube is thawing, apparently the power source was actually heating the pod, only a few minutes till the occupant is awake'._

"I'll be down there with everyone, bring it to the arena", the Director finished. Quickly turning around, he beckoned the Councillor to follow him. They both walked briskly to the arena, taking corridors and elevators to their intended destination.

Walking up to the intercom, the Director held the microphone up to his mouth. "Attention, All agents are to report to the arena deck", he instructed.

Only two minutes, and nearly all agents were at the arena with only a few lagging behind. Agent Alaska arrived at the arena flustered under her helmet, she was just practicing at the sniper range and had to sprint to the arena. It didn't help that she was 6ft 3in tall and almost stumbled into a shorter agent. Taking a small breath, she slipped through the crowd of agents silently and eventually pushed to the front to see a cryo pod in the centre of the room.

_'Attention agents the pod is cracking, repeat the pod is thawing'_ a voice over the intercom spoke. Almost immediately the agents assembled got into battle ready positions. The distinctive hiss of a cryo pod thawing filled the room. Slowly, the lid lifted upwards on it's hinges.

A dark green figure stumbled out of the pod and fell on it's knee. It slowly lifted it's helmet and a gold visor met their own.

:

:

* * *

**Hey my fellow readers.**

**It has been very hard for me in the last couple of days, lots of school work and not enough inspiration to help me write the chapter. **

**But I do my best to bring you a good storyline.**

**By the way, the next chapter is going to be action packed**

**I won't spoil anything for you,**

**Sincere Regards, **

**Xenongaf :)**


	5. Chapter IV

Chief looked up to find thirty agents looking straight at him. Taking a few deep breaths, he waited for something to happen. Fortunately that wish came true a few seconds later.

_'Attention cryo pod occupant, you are to get up with your hands in the air'_ a female voice spoke over the intercom.

Chief became confused, why didn't they recognize him as a Spartan. Taking a quick glance around the room, he found two exits. Completing his analysis, he realised he didn't have Cortana with him. Another thing was that the agents were wearing similar armour to him.

_'Attention cryo pod occupant, you are to get up with your hands in the air' _the female voice repeated.

Slowly, Chief raised both his arms in the air and stood straight. Two of the agents emerged from the crowd holding restraining devices. (Recommended you put the song 'Black Betty' on to make this feel awesome).

In an instant Chief jumped at them with inhuman speeds. Grabbing both of their necks, he swung them around himself and then threw them at the crowd knocking nine agents to the ground, all of this was done in three seconds.

'_All agents, engage the hostile'_, the Director spoke over the intercom. Chief just charged through the crowds, punching and kicking agents down without any resistance and shouldered through the exit as if it were paper.

* * *

"What the hell was that Director", the Councillor growled. The Director just as furious slammed his fist into the desk.

"I don't know what that damn thing was", the Director admitted begrudgingly, "but it has armour similar to ours, which means a rival project has been created to counter us".

'_Director, our cryo occupant is currently running rampant around the Mother of Invention, we have no way of stopping him' _, FLYSS spoke over the desk speakers.

"What do you mean 'him' FLYSS?", the Director asked curiously.

_'I took a quick biological scan of, but his armour prevented me from doing a more accurate scan, I also found his brain activity to be higher than an average human'_

The Director slammed a button on the desk sounding the alarm. He turned to the Councillor and threw him a data chip and signalled him out the door. The Councillor nodded and hurried out of the room leaving the Director be himself in the room.

* * *

Chief sprinted down the hallway, shouldering through soldiers, medics, technicians and pilots. After a while of running around the ship, a couple of freelancers caught up to him though clearly out of breath.

Pointing his pistol at Chief, York breathed heavily whilst cursing with every intake.

"Look we can do this the easy way or the hard way", York asked while huffing. Chief just looked at York before sprinting at him. York managed to squeeze off one shot before getting a punch to the chest, knocking him off his feet.

The other freelancers opened fire on the Chief, doing no effect as his shields shimmered. Snatching the pistol from Yorks limp hand, he expertly disarmed them all with three shots, then punched them each in the helmet, knocking them into unconsciousness. He sprinted in the opposite direction.

A few minutes later another four agents ran down the hallway to find an embarrassing sight to behold. Alaska shook her head at the four freelancers lying on the ground. Most of them were at the bottom of the leader board, except for York, who was in the top ten. Colorado just snickered at the helplessness of the unconscious agents.

"Come on, we have keep following it", Florida said, they nodded before sprinting down the hall.

* * *

Chief arrived at the room labelled 'Experiments', hoping it would contain Cortana, he twisted the handle. It broke into sixteen pieces. Undeterred by this, he took six steps back before running at top speed into the door. Smash! The metal twisted and crumpled into an odd shape, laid on the floor. Chief continued into the room, analysing it before realising Cortana would not be held here. He bolted out of the room bumping into Alaska, who promptly fell on her bottom. Instantly the other agents engaged Chief in hand to hand combat. Alaska crawled away from the fight with a DMR cradled in her arms.

Chief grabbed one of the fists thrown at him and jerked the assailant behind him roughly sending him into the wall. The agent clutched his helmeted head and groaned before flopping on the floor. Clenching his fist, Chief threw a lighting fast punch at agent Colorado's chest knocking the breath out of him. As he was about to block agent Florida's sideswipe, a projectile hit him, stunning him temporarily which let Florida hit him. He grunted as the fist made contact, but head butted Florida then tossing him into the room 'Experiments'.

Quickly he scanned his surroundings for the person who shot him, but he only found an empty hallway. Turning to leave, he noticed a slight distortion near one of the pillars holding the ships superstructure above his head. Raising his pistol, he squeezed two shots at the distortion. Nothing happened at first other than the sound of metal crashing against metal. Then the distortion disappeared, revealing the agent he bumped into earlier.

As agent Alaska tried to stand, her arm muscles suddenly gave a spasm and she collapsed again. Chief strode over to her weak form. Alaska tried move fruitlessly away from his approaching form. Chief knelt over to her and pulled a small can from one of his armour compartments. Quickly he jabbed the pointed end of the can into one of her gun wounds and sprayed the foam into it. Alaska winced as it touched her sensitive wound.

Quickly getting up Chief sprinted again down the hallway still searching for Cortana.

Alaska laid there confused. _Why did he help me?_, she questioned in her head.

* * *

The Councillor was surrounded by agents, who were acting as escorts for the time being in the situation. Getting to the laboratory was easy. Avoiding the mysterious green armoured giant, not so much. They had to stop at the armoury for a while to gather some specialised gear. The Councillor picked up a pistol with three magazines. Maine, Carolina and North were searching for plasma pistols and rifles to help combat the unknown enemy while Georgia was on watch outside the armoury.

"Any sight of that thing Georgia?", Carolina asked.

"None so far Carolina", he replied.

Suddenly, the sound of heavy metal feet slamming against the floor rapidly filled the armoury. Immediately Carolina and Maine stopped searching for weapons and bolted outside, forget their weapons. North sighed and kept clawing through the heap of weapons.

Carolina and Maine got through the doorframe to find a limp Georgia flying at them. Carolina ducked under George, leaving Maine to take the brunt of the body, he fell onto the floor in a dazed heap. Carolina stood up and started to circle around the Chief, who was looking back at her without flinching.

"So, what's your name big guy", she asked, cocking her head questioningly at him.

"Sierra-117", he replied in a gravelly voice. Carolina was almost taken aback by this reply. Usually they would give them a last name or even a full name before fighting. But all he gave her was a call sign which never worked well with her. Working herself into light foot work, she kept circling him, waiting for the first strike. Chief just stood there, motionless with only his head tracking her.

As if on que, Maine burst out the door, charging at the Chief, only to be smack away with a back hand. Maine stumbled away into the wall. Quickly using the distraction, Carolina faded into the environment using the camouflage module in her suit. Chief quickly turned back to face Carolina, only to receive a boot in his visor. Stumbling around, cursing under his breath, Chief looked closely at the wall, and a slight outline of a figure was present near the wall. Launching himself at the outline, he barely even felt the body that he had almost crushed under his weight. Putting a knee up to the chest of the still camouflaged agent. He chucked an EMP onto the body and then jumped out of the way just as the bomb went off. The camouflage flickered off and the aqua armour of agent Carolina came into view.

Just as he was about to knock her out with an uppercut, agent Maine came barrelling towards him. Simply taking a few quick paces to the side, he missed the charge. Maine stumbled to a halt and turned to face him. Growling loudly, Maine pounced on him, only to be violently kicked into the nearest steel brace , bending the metal. Carolina's eyes widened in shock and awe. Chief then turned to her small form and proceeded to plant a vicious kick to her helmet, denting the metal and knocking her unconscious.

Walking into the armoury, he found Georgia and the Councillor aiming their weapons at him. In an instant he rolled under the aimed guns and kicked upwards, knocking the weapons out of their hands. Taking out his pistol, he aimed at the unarmoured Councillor. Both the Freelancer and the Councillor rose their hands slowly.

A small dot appeared on the Councillor's hand from Chief's HUD. A name was tagged on the side of it. It was Cortana. Quickly snatching the chip from the Councillors hand roughly, he inserted it into his helmet, the icy mercury feeling filling his head.

_'Took you long enough'_ Cortana in an annoyed voice, though Chief knew it was a façade.

"Knew you'd miss me", he replied in his usual baritone voice. With lightning speed, he knocked the Councillor out with the butt of his pistol and head butted George hard enough to send him into unconsciousness.

"Cortana, what's the objective?", Chief asked, Cortana looked at him from the HUD with a surprised expression.

"Objectives? Chief, we aren't fighting a war, there is no missions for you to complete", she tried to explain. Shaking his head, he started down the hallway in search for a transport to get off the ship.

After running for minutes, knocking out or disabling both freelancers and marines, he finally reached the hanger bay, which was surprisingly empty of personnel. Running through the assortment of numerous vehicles, Chief found a single occupant fighter not unlike the experimental YSS-1000 'Sabres', the main difference was that there was only one engine, a less sleek design and a noticeable bulge on the undercarriage. Regardless, he climbed into the cockpit and inserted Cortana into the systems.

"Chief I'm opening the hangar doors, get ready to fly at moments notice", she said calmly. Chief nodded silently and prepped the engines.

The Sudden sound of depressurization filled the entire hanger, the doors then opened to reveal the empty expanse of space. The fighter lifted off the ground and took off rapidly. Unbeknownst to them, a small tracking device had been planted onto the ship.

* * *

The Director angrily pounded the desk. All the assorted agents cringed when they saw the Director fuming.

"How could you let that single person infiltrate the ship, take a valuable asset and steal a fighter", He ranted furiously. Everyone looked at each other in fear.

The Director then relaxed slightly, though keeping his disappointed look on his face. "Well that goes to show that we need to make higher expectations for the agents here, not even Carolina stood a chance against him".

All the agents eyes widened in surprise and all turned to see an embarrassed Carolina red in the face. The Director put his face in his hands whilst rubbing his temples.

"Director", said a soft voice. Looking up he saw agent Alaska waiting for him to respond.

"What is it agent Alaska", he asked.

"I slipped a tracking device onto the fighter before he took off, we might be able to track him", she explained quietly. The Director's eyes widened in amazement.

"That is a wonderful suggestion agent Alaska", he replied, causing her to smile a little under her helmet. Standing from his desk, he grabbed the data pad and tapped on the small screen. A screen popped out from the wall and began displaying a model of a ship before zooming out to show the planet it was approaching.

"Freelancers", he addressed to the armoured individuals, "gather your equipment, we are tracking down this individual". All of them snapped to attention, before leaving his office to go to their respective lockers and rooms.

The Director then turned to the screen displaying the location of the tracked ship.

"FLYSS, tell our crewmembers to plot a course to Epsilon Eridani", he ordered.

"As you wish Director", the AI said before leaving him alone in the office.

**Hey me fellow readers, **

**I am so sorry with the delay, so much assignments and school work tends to shorten the chapter and halt the progression of my stories. The Ar-Didact story is getting it's chapter released soon (Maybe). If there are any mistakes in this chapter, please point it out to me respectfully as I was in a hurry to release the next chapter for you guys.**

**Hope this doesn't deter you from reading my stories. :)**

**From Xenongaf,**


	6. Chapter V

They had been flying for a few hours and already Chief was become anxious about the situation. Something was wrong about this place and he intended to find out. Checking the monitors on the 'SV-200' experimental fighter, he noticed that it contained a slipspace drive integrated with the engines and was fully charged.

"Cortana", he spoke quietly, "I need you to give a pair of coordinates to the nearest UNSC fortress world". An image of Cortana appeared on his HUD and had a raised eyebrow at him.

"Which one Chief?", she asked curiously. Chief stoically looked beyond her image and watched the stars light up in the vast emptiness of space.

"Reach", he replied, waiting for the AI to do her calculations. A few seconds later, a red transparent button lit up and Chief tapped it softly to initiate the jump.

"Director, the signal is making a slipspace jump to the Epsilon Eridani system, more specifically the fortress world Reach", a navigation officer informed the Director. He nodded slowly before turning to face the holographic display of the tracked ship approaching the model of a planet.

"FLYSS", the Director asked the AI.

"Yes Director?"

"Bring up the supply manifest of the ship". His request was acknowledged and the amounts showed that the ships supplies were running very low. He also needed to contact the united nations ship interiors for a fix up in the mainframe, it would be expensive to replace, but he needed it in top shape for the personnel to use.

"Command bridge, take us to Reach"

"Will do Director"

The familiar blue slipspace outline appeared outside the window. The vessel slowly inched itself into the portal until it was fully absorbed into the subspace realm.

Chief arrived out of slipspace and into the range of Reach's orbital MAC platforms. As the guns turned to face him Chief attempted to open a line to them.

"This is Sierra-117, authorisation code: 0995743, permission to enter atmosphere at coordinates X:10032 Y:1384 Z:334022?".

The radio was silent the while before the static appeared again.

"Sierra-117, you are cleared for in atmospheric flight. What part of ONI are you from?", the operator asked. Chief didn't really want to give away his status just in case people started to crowd around, he just wanted a place to rest for a while.

"ONI Section 3, Bravo-3, Special Warfare division", Chief half lied. He could faintly hear thanks to his augmentations the operator losing his composure and swearing in the background.

"Continue on and have a pleasant day on Reach", the operator said with some shakiness. Chief then guided the fighter into the atmosphere of Reach.

It was about two hours until he had reached his destination and brought the craft into a horizontal landing position. With a hiss, the cockpit windshield slid forward and Chief heaved himself out of the cockpit landing on the ground roughly.

Taking a look at his surroundings, he was surprised that the landscape was without a trace that the Covenant had been here. It was almost as if the Covenant had never even visited the place…

Chief's mind then suddenly processed what his theory could possibly infer. If the Covenant wasn't here, then that would explain the reactions of those armoured soldiers on that ship and why the operator wasn't reacting like he was some hero.

"Cortana, can you hack into one of the satellites in orbit?", Chief asked with uncertainty laced into his tone. Cortana appeared on his HUD and nodded at him.

"I can try my best, what do you want me to find?"

"The date, recent events and projects", he replied still with uncertainty. It only took a heartbeat or two for Cortana to gather the information.

"Chief? Is this some kind of joke", she suddenly spoke with fear tinged in her synthetic voice.

"What is it Cortana?", he asked. Numbers suddenly appeared on the HUD and then disappeared, leaving three words.

'**2521 November 15'**

Chief just stared at the electronic visor and fell to his knee's. So many things were going through his mind, but one thing was for certain, it should be impossible for him to exist this long ago. The war would begin again and he had endure again.

Getting over his sorrows, Chief got up from his kneeling position. He then started to sprint quickly in the north direction.

"Chief! What are you doing?"

"Visiting a place that might contain answers", he replied evenly.

It took five minutes of running to reach the location he was looking for. A large compound was built before them. An electric fence surrounded the land and concrete structures stood sturdily just as Chief remembered it, just as John remembered it.

He shook his head getting rid of any memories and searched the fence for an entrance.

The crunching of footsteps alerted him to his surrounds and sure enough on his motion tracker, a yellow dot was approaching him. Quickly, he hid behind a large tree with bushes and tall grass camouflaging him completely. The human just walked on as if nothing happened. Chief scowled at the man. This was one of the people from 'Tango Company', a group of marines that antagonised the Spartan candidates and injured them in a number of ways that would deter any normal person.

The Spartan waited until the marine walked out of view before stepping out of his hiding spot.

Looking around, he searched for the hole until his eyes landed on a hastily laid pile of leaves. To anyone else, it looked like a regular pile of fallen leaves. To John's eyes however, it was the perfect concealment for the hole.

Dropping down onto one knee, he quickly dug the leaves from the hole and crawled through, being careful not to touch the electrically charged metal above his body. He slipped through without a sound.

Chief quietly prowled around the grounds, watching his motion tracker and the physical outlines of the guards.

Leaning against a buildings wall, more specifically the garage. He closed his eyes and attempted to remember the layout of the place. Ten seconds later, he found what he was looking for. The tall structure acted like a communications towers, but also contained classified information only Dr Halsey knew about.

Chief remembered vaguely about a conversation between her and someone on comms.

_' "I know Director Hanson I'm working on sending the secret files to you, just give me one more day to compile it completely", Halsey harshly replied to the operator on the hologram before hanging up and walking away from the terminal.'_

Chief knew this was something that connected him to his past. Silently, he opened a door to the building nearest to him and walked in without making another sound.

There was chatting in the hallways, but his motion tracker said otherwise and he continued forward. Reaching the end of the corridor, he was about to tug the door open when a young girl about ten years old walked around the corner. Sharp brown eyes met his golden visor and for about one minute they stared.

"Who are you and state your business", the girl ordered him. Chief couldn't help but admire the girl's bravery to face him even though he was a giant compared to her.

"Master Chief Petty Officer", he replied with a stony tone. She glared at him.

"You haven't finished my question, what is your business".

"Answers to my past", Chief replied evenly. He turned on his heels and yanked open the door accidently ripping it off it's hinges. Berating himself for using his strength, he turned to see if the girl was still there. She was still there, but had a look of awe and fear when he held the door in one arm.

Quickly, he fled the scene and left the girl.

Inside the Mother of invention

"Director we have direct coordinates of the tracking device on Reach", a Navigational Officer said. The Director gave the officer a nod before walking down to the holographic map. The numbers of the coordinates appeared briefly before showing an error message. The Director scowled.

"Navigation officer", he growled, "why is an error message when we are trying to access the coordinates?".

"Apparently this is clearance that only ONI has access to and any unauthorized personnel are to be eliminated on site without question".

The Director pondered on this before going to the communication station. Sorting through the contacts, he found the one he was looking for and opened a line to the person in interest.

"Ah, if it isn't Director Church of project freelancer", a cold voice greeted him. An image of a thin old man with frightening blue eyes, "how may I help you".

"I'm here to get authorization on coordinates X:10032 Y:1384 Z:334022", he requested calmly. The old man's eyes widened in an instant before narrowing them.

"And why should I authorize entry on those grounds?".

"We are hunting an unknown entity that has stolen our experimental SV-200 slipspace fighter and come from a slipspace rupture, apparently as the sole occupant of an abandoned vessel, the 'Forward unto Dawn'", the Director explained, hoping that the old man would let him proceed with his plans.

"Director, this is Section 3 security clearance 'Sierra', I can't do much for you other than try connecting you to the head of the grounds, now if you excuse me, I have a conference to attend".

The Director just nodded and ended the conversation.

"FLYSS?", the Director asked.

"Yes Director?", the AI replied dutifully.

"Get my into contact with the head of that territory, I will not let expensive technology be stolen!", the Director growled. He walked to the holographic table, "Send in recovery squad number one".

"Yes Director", FLYSS said before sending her different subroutines to inform the said group.

Inside the mess hall.

Most of the freelancers were eating lunch and chatting to each other at a rapid pace, mainly about the mysterious being that caused so much mayhem on the ship. All except for Agent Alaska and Agent Maine, the former being a shy person and the latter having to recuperate in the medical bay after his rough ordeal with the green hulk of armour.

Alaska sat silently contemplating about the unknown man. She had foolishly engaged him and most likely could've ended up dead or in intensive care had he not restrained himself to not deliver the final blow. In some part of her head, she wanted to say a thank you or something for not hurting her badly.

The train of though disappeared when she heard FLYSS on the ships intercom.

"All members of recovery squad one, please report to the bridge immediately".

Instantaneously, the members of the mentioned squad made a beeline to the exit that would lead them to the bridge.

Agents Wyoming, Alaska, Michigan, Maryland, Ohio and Arizona all strode at a quick pace, indicating that they were eager to get some action. When they arrived at the doors, they paused, patiently waiting for the door to slide open.

It opened and they strolled in only to pause at the Directors display or anger.

"…will not tolerate this now, I need to apprehend an unknown entity that is currently at your 'secret' place of operations Halsey, if you do not let me land my freelancers there, then I will be forced to take extreme actions", the Director finished with a heavy sigh. It was silent until about five seconds.

"I will consider your option Director Church", an irked voice carried over the Communications, "but you will have to abide by my rules once your _Freelancers_ have been deployed, understood?".

"Yes Halsey", he replied.

"Goodbye then", and the call ended. Gritting his teeth in barely contained anger, he turned to the assembled squad.

"I am giving you clearance to storm the compound, be selective of targets and keep radio silence unless it is a grave emergency, take a pelican down to these coordinates", he handed them the active coordinates of the tracking device.

"Suit up and take the suppressive weaponry", he ordered them. They all nodded before saluting and heading to their respective lockers in the armoury.

Shaking his head, the Director directed his attention back to the holographic display hoping to gather more data.

**Well that was a long wait for a lot of people, I'm not really doing a good job of this am I?**

**Continuing on, it's almost the holidays for me, so that means that I can work more rapidly on the story (19th of September 2014). Keep writing reviews for this story because the more encouragement I get, the more motivated I am. :)**

**Thanks, Xenongaf**


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